Diving with a Cochlear Implant?

[bluesbro1982]

Allright, I'm not new to diving, but here's the scoop.

Buddy of mine got married last year, and his wife has turned out to be... untrusting. Odds are things won't work out for him, and I consider him one of my best friends. Hobbies being an excellent source of diversions, and diving especially offering the opportunity to purchase expensive toys for big guys, I figure it might be a good fit.

Trouble is, He's deaf (Hearing impaired for the PC, but he prefers deaf, heh), and has a cochlear implant installed in 97 (the newer ones). The literature says that he should be good up to 4 atm, but so far I haven't heard or seen anyone on the board with an implant, nor have I seen more than 1 study of long-term diving with an implant (study said no ill effects after 60~ dives, but that is only one person). Also complicated is the fact that when you get an implant, you have a small soft spot in the skull because the bone can't grow back when the implant is in the way.

Does anyone here dive with an implant, or does anyone know / have an experience with a student or buddy with one? I know people who dive with prostheses and such, but this is a little different as we're talking about sensitive electronics implanted in one's head...

Help me help a friend in need. He's been one of my best buddies through thick and thin, and I'm not about to leave a brother hanging after a messy end of relationship that he really shouldn't be at fault for.

[bluesbro1982]

Go see a doctor. I don't think this is a question the interweb can handle.

True dat. Before he takes the plunge he'll obviously talk to his audiologist and ENT, but if anyone has any experiences with this, I'd like to get feedback. I should have clarified: I'm not looking for medical advice or a "See, you can do it..." thing, just more of an idea of if anyone has ever seen or dealt with this before. Obviously this is something only a doctor can truly answer, but I'm sure others have had some experience with this...

[JodiBB]

bluesbro....I just went diving with a D/HH person who had a CI as well...his MD cleared him for up to 60', which is all he wanted for the OW certification. He needs to talk to his own MD of course, but I wanted to give you an encouraging outcome.

PS....In the Deaf community, the PC term is "Deaf" (with a capital "D") and not hearing-impaired....

[RICHinNC]

JUst 60 ft.....man that would make you have to go to Bonaire a lot.....tough

[SparticleBrane]

You can spend a lifetime just exploring what's happening at 60fsw and less.

[offroaddiver]

I have gained alot of Deaf friends and am currently learning ASL so I can communicate more efficiently. So far the only thing I've heard about people with CI is that diving is not suggested. I've also known several who are limited to pool depths (20-30 feet max). Some lit that I've read is that people with CI's can dive to 10 0 with newer (replace with expensive) equipment.

[bluesbro1982]

I have gained alot of Deaf friends and am currently learning ASL so I can communicate more efficiently. So far the only thing I've heard about people with CI is that diving is not suggested. I've also known several who are limited to pool depths (20-30 feet max). Some lit that I've read is that people with CI's can dive to 10 0 with newer (replace with expensive) equipment.

Thats what I figured was worst case scenario. He was one of the first to get the multi-stranded cochlear implants in 97 and I'm sure his doc will fill him in on the limitations.

Thanks for all the help and keep those experiences coming on the thread. I'm sure someone in the future will have other stuff to contribute as well.

[mibz]

any feedback re this post? the girl i like has one and she had it installed in 2004 is there any problems at all?

[DocVikingo]

Hi mibiz,

bluesbro1982 original inquiry is dated July 3rd, 2006; his last login to the board was May 7th, 2011.

As such, you may have better luck PMing or emailing him.

Regards,

DocVikingo